


Please Kill Me

by twilightstarr



Series: Golden Walls [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Depression, Gen, Implied Violence, Pre-Fire Emblem Fates, Prequel, attempted indirect suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-01 16:35:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11490351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightstarr/pseuds/twilightstarr
Summary: The night Leo met the intriguing thief who begged him for death





	Please Kill Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyShellshock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyShellshock/gifts).



> I said I wasn't going to write this, but knowing there was someone who would like it motivated me. 
> 
> I think it's for the best though that it ended up being separate from Give Me a Chance to Like You, because I like this being from Leo's perspective. It's nice to get a glimpse of Niles through his eyes. (Now if only Niles could see himself the way Leo sees him...)

One more chapter--Leo had simply had to stay up and finish the book in his favorite spot in the library before his mind would be able to rest. 

He was just on his way to bed when he noticed several guards all rushing in one direction. That couldn't mean anything good. Brynhildr held ready, he followed, curious what the alarm was about. 

Leo and the group he'd followed were late arrivals to the scene. The thieves had already fled, leaving behind some cold silenced bodies and broken windows.

“Except we did catch one of them, Prince Leo, if you'd like to finish him,” a guard informed him.

“Of course." Truthfully, Leo was feeling a bit tired and indifferent at the moment, but he had a merciless reputation to uphold. 

Another guard threw the captive at his feet. Leo opened his tome, but paused as he noticed an unusual stillness in his target. As seconds went by, he began to wonder if he was actually already dead. 

Finally, the thief lifted himself to his elbows and asked, “What are you waiting for?” he sounded… impatient?

“I don't know--a futile attempt at resistance? A plea for mercy? Anything?” 

“Fine. Please kill me.” 

Leo must have misheard. Maybe he'd missed a 'don't’ in there. “What?” Then again, perhaps it was consistent with the rest of his behavior. 

“Please kill me!” he lifted his head slightly and said much louder. There was no mistaking his words. 

Well, now this was getting interesting. “Why?” Leo asked with a curious head tilt. 

The question surprised the outlaw enough to get him to glance up at Leo--with one eye, he noticed--in confusion. “Because I broke into the castle, obviously.” 

“Yes, but why do you _want_ me to kill you?” Leo clarified. 

He lowered his gaze again. “Because I can’t bear another day of this life.” Oh. He didn’t even sound like he had the energy left to be sad or angry. He just looked exhausted. 

It poked at something in the psychology folder of Leo’s internal bank of things he'd once read about, and suddenly, he felt like he needed to find a way to save the man before him instead of killing him, but how? If he didn't, someone else would. 

Now that Leo was truly looking at him, he could sense a passive, but strong magic about him--a resistance to spells. He also had some muscle, and Leo could infer that the bow and quiver one of the guards held had been confiscated from him. He was surely at least fair at stealth. He could be useful.

“You may leave. I have this under control,” he told the guards, not wanting to deal with all of them being shocked at him at once for what he was about to do. Once they were out of hearing range, he suggested to the thief, “What if I offered you a new life?” 

He looked up at him in confusion once more. “What are you talking about?” 

“Will you be my retainer?”

“You can't be serious.” 

To convey his seriousness, Leo descended to his knees on the floor with him. “I am. Please accept the offer. I don't want to see your potential thrown away.” 

“What potential?” he almost sounded offended. 

“You can use a bow. I assume you're experienced in stealth. You have an impressive innate magical resistance. Those are useful abilities, and that’s only what I know about from one look.” 

He sighed as though in defeat. “Alright, I'll play along until you change your mind and kill me.” 

“Thank you.” Leo rose, and, when his retainer didn't follow, said, “You may stand.” 

The way he made pulling himself to his feet look like such a strenuous task made Leo second guess his decision for a second. Was he really doing the right thing? Would it be kinder to kill him? No, he couldn't think like that. Someone had to remain rational about this. 

“Well then, what's your name?” 

“Niles,” he mumbled. 

“Pleased to meet you, Niles.” 

He would not extend his hand, so Leo had to go after it and guide it to the middle, which Niles displayed no reaction to. Well, this was getting awkward.

“Umm…. So... I guess I'll take you to the guest room for now, and I'll have my maids prepare a room closer to mine tomorrow. Come on.” 

Before falling asleep that night, Leo wrote himself a note to review the subject of depression tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, that armload of books, half of which Leo handed to Niles, was mostly or entirely psychology, and Niles had no idea.


End file.
